In Madhya Pradesh, men get widow pension

An official scrutiny of beneficiaries of various Central-sponsored social welfare schemes has led to shocking disclosure of men receiving widow pensions in a Madhya Pradesh district.

The scrutiny is being carried out in MP following a directive from the Centre to the states to integrate bank accounts of all beneficiaries of various Central social welfare schemes with their Aadhaar numbers by March 31, 2017.

A probe by Ratlam district collector Chandrasekhar Borkar has found that at least 2,500 ineligible beneficiaries have been enjoying benefits provided under various pension schemes including the widow pension in his district.

Shockingly, 227 beneficiaries of widow pension scheme have been found to be men, both married and bachelors. “During our scrutiny of accounts receiving financial aid under direct benefit transfer (DBT) and social welfare schemes, massive irregularities have been noticed, including those where widow pensions were received by men,” Borkar told the media. Total 331 accounts enrolled for widow pension have been found to be bogus.